Sermon 10th May 2009
Today our Vicar, Cameron Barker, preaches based on the reading from Psalm 22 verses 1 - 11.
The story is told about a man walking along a cliff-top one windy autumn evening. To his horror, as dusk fell a strong gust swept him over the edge. As he fell, he desperately flailed his arms – and got lucky! Somehow he managed to grab, and hold, on to the stout branches of a tree growing from the cliff-face. As he clung on he realised that actually he wasn't too much better off. So, despite not being a man of faith, he cried aloud into the darkness: 'God, are you up there?' Imagine his surprise, then, when a Voice answered him: 'Yes, my son. What do you want?' Once he'd ensured that his grip was firm again, he wailed: 'Help me!'
I will finish that story later, but I want to pause it there. Of course it's not a true story – but it could easily be! For me the lasting image of the 7/7 London bombings was seeing those TV images of people staggering from Tube tunnels with smoke-blackened faces. Almost without exception, they were praying aloud. Those terrified people pleaded for God to keep them safe. Even at the time I wondered how many of them were in regular conversation with God. Not that many, I suspected. But, as the old saying goes, there aren't any atheists in the trenches. Come the sort of crisis that's so far beyond our control, our natural instinct is to hope that God can help, and to ask Him to.
There's great precedent of people doing just that – and good reason to as well. It's precisely what David, King of ancient Israel, did in the Psalm we've read this morning. As we've already heard in this series, David was someone who was in regular conversation with God. In the past few weeks we have heard how David knew that God knew everything about him – because God had made him. David knew too that God cared for, and about, him. In that wonderful image from Psalm 23, as a shepherd did, God led, guided and protected David – in good times and in bad. And so, in this present bad time – which was a really bad one – David cried out to God, loud and long. In his hour of need, he cried out in faith and trust, for God's help and protection once again.
Now this Psalm may well be quite familiar to those who know the story of Good Friday. Jesus quoted the opening words of it as he hung on the cross. And much of what's written in the rest of Psalm 22 sounds like a very accurate description of what Jesus suffered on the cross. It talks about hands and feet being pierced, people mocking the victim, and gambling for his clothing as he dies in thirsty agony. But today we need to set all that aside. Instead we must focus on what we can learn from this Psalm from its original setting, hundreds of years before Jesus' death.
That's not an easy task, though. We do know many of the details of David's life, because so much of it is recorded in the Old Testament. But there isn't any one incident where David faced death in the way described in this Psalm. In one sense that's neither here nor there, though. Even without knowing the exact details of his circumstances at the time when David wrote Psalm 22, we can still learn how he responded to a desperate crisis. There is no doubt that David's reaction was to cry, and to reach, out, with faith and deep trust in God.
At first glance 21st Century Westerners may not 'get' that. “My God, my God, why have you abandoned / forsaken me?” can easily sound to us like a bitter accusation. But to a Hebrew mind, like David's, and Jesus', it's actually a plea for help. It's more a seeking of reassurance – in the way that we might say, “you haven't, have you?” Unless we grasp that fact, none of the rest of this Psalm will make any sense. Of course David wasn't at all happy at the prospect of dying in agony at the hands of his mocking enemies. Of course he couldn't see the presence, or the goodness, of God in such circumstances. But what he could, and did, do was to cry out to the God whom he knew and trusted.
One of the most important lessons that we can learn from this Psalm, then, is from the honesty with which David wrote. He didn't for a moment try to hide from God how he was feeling about his plight. He was upfront too about how he thought that God wasn't hearing his prayers. David wrote about how he was at it day and night – and yet it seemed to be making no difference at all. The early verses of this Psalm alternate, though. David began with what we could say were grievances about God's apparent inaction. But in-between he reminded himself about who God is, and what He can do.
The very fact that David expressed himself to God at all at such a time tells us just how much he trusted in God! The supporting evidence may have been lacking – but only in the present. In the alternate verses of his Psalm David then reassured himself of his grounds for faith from other evidence. It wasn't 'just' that God was the God of Israel. And it wasn't 'just' that those who'd gone before David had trusted in God, and been saved either. It was also the evidence of his own past that David could, and did, rely on. Again, in verse 9, David reminded himself that he had trusted in God since he'd been a toddler, a baby even!
It was on those bases that David could then, in verse 11, plead with God not to stay away/be far from him. He really needed that help, because his situation was so dire. David didn't ever try to get away from that central fact. Even as he wrote about the good reasons there were to trust God, he kept going back to just how bad things were. In verse 6 he described himself as feeling like a worm, rather than a person. And then, in the next part of the Psalm, he went on to list exactly what he was facing. We didn't read that part – or the turning point that David finally reached, in verse 22.
Again we don't know what got him there, because it's not in the Psalm itself. But, for whatever reason, David knew there had been some kind of a breakthrough – and all was instantly transformed! The internal evidence suggests that nothing had actually changed, apart from David's attitude. But what a difference! From being that broken, desperate man, David became this great hero of faith! In faith he looked forward to the day when everybody would know just what God had done for him! He'd tell them all in public worship. He'd let the whole nation of Israel know about it! In fact, the news of what God had done would reach to the very ends of the earth! More than that, future generations would even get to know about it – and praise God for it! And, if you think that's fanciful, ask what we are praising God for today!
Well we've left that poor man hanging in the dark quite long enough now. Having asked for God's help, he wasn't at all happy to hear God tell him to let go of the branch! 'Is there anybody else out there?' was his next cry! The silence was broken only by God telling him again to let go. He still hung on for as long as he could, before he did let go. Before his life could flash before his eyes, he landed about three feet below, safe and sound, on solid ground.
It is only a story, of course. But it makes a crucial point, as Psalm 22 does – that God can be trusted. I, of all people, well know, though, that life is seldom quite that simple or easy. Psalm 22 is particularly helpful in that way: David faced very real danger, and there was no guarantee that his life would be spared. Yes he could, and did, cry out to God for help – and God obviously did rescue him, or this Psalm would never have been written! But I am sure that even if David had died, he'd have done so still believing in the goodness of God. And this is the faith into which we have welcomed Eden / Freya and Maggie today. It's about trusting and hoping in the God who is faithful to eternity.
As I look around the church this morning, I'm well aware of so many people with all kind of trouble to cry out to God about. I also know that I don't even know the half of it! But I am well aware, too, of my own on-going need to do that. What Psalm 22 does is to give us all the permission we'll ever need to cry out to God for His help. God welcomes us doing that, not least because it's a sign that somehow we do trust in Him. So today do be honest with God about your troubles – as David was. Don't hold back from telling God how it is, and how it feels. Yes, He already knows; but he longs to hear us say it anyway. And let it be – or become – part of a conversation with the God who is faithful at all times and in all circumstances, the One who knows you and loves you and saves you, as He did David. And so let's pray ...
The story is told about a man walking along a cliff-top one windy autumn evening. To his horror, as dusk fell a strong gust swept him over the edge. As he fell, he desperately flailed his arms – and got lucky! Somehow he managed to grab, and hold, on to the stout branches of a tree growing from the cliff-face. As he clung on he realised that actually he wasn't too much better off. So, despite not being a man of faith, he cried aloud into the darkness: 'God, are you up there?' Imagine his surprise, then, when a Voice answered him: 'Yes, my son. What do you want?' Once he'd ensured that his grip was firm again, he wailed: 'Help me!'
I will finish that story later, but I want to pause it there. Of course it's not a true story – but it could easily be! For me the lasting image of the 7/7 London bombings was seeing those TV images of people staggering from Tube tunnels with smoke-blackened faces. Almost without exception, they were praying aloud. Those terrified people pleaded for God to keep them safe. Even at the time I wondered how many of them were in regular conversation with God. Not that many, I suspected. But, as the old saying goes, there aren't any atheists in the trenches. Come the sort of crisis that's so far beyond our control, our natural instinct is to hope that God can help, and to ask Him to.
There's great precedent of people doing just that – and good reason to as well. It's precisely what David, King of ancient Israel, did in the Psalm we've read this morning. As we've already heard in this series, David was someone who was in regular conversation with God. In the past few weeks we have heard how David knew that God knew everything about him – because God had made him. David knew too that God cared for, and about, him. In that wonderful image from Psalm 23, as a shepherd did, God led, guided and protected David – in good times and in bad. And so, in this present bad time – which was a really bad one – David cried out to God, loud and long. In his hour of need, he cried out in faith and trust, for God's help and protection once again.
Now this Psalm may well be quite familiar to those who know the story of Good Friday. Jesus quoted the opening words of it as he hung on the cross. And much of what's written in the rest of Psalm 22 sounds like a very accurate description of what Jesus suffered on the cross. It talks about hands and feet being pierced, people mocking the victim, and gambling for his clothing as he dies in thirsty agony. But today we need to set all that aside. Instead we must focus on what we can learn from this Psalm from its original setting, hundreds of years before Jesus' death.
That's not an easy task, though. We do know many of the details of David's life, because so much of it is recorded in the Old Testament. But there isn't any one incident where David faced death in the way described in this Psalm. In one sense that's neither here nor there, though. Even without knowing the exact details of his circumstances at the time when David wrote Psalm 22, we can still learn how he responded to a desperate crisis. There is no doubt that David's reaction was to cry, and to reach, out, with faith and deep trust in God.
At first glance 21st Century Westerners may not 'get' that. “My God, my God, why have you abandoned / forsaken me?” can easily sound to us like a bitter accusation. But to a Hebrew mind, like David's, and Jesus', it's actually a plea for help. It's more a seeking of reassurance – in the way that we might say, “you haven't, have you?” Unless we grasp that fact, none of the rest of this Psalm will make any sense. Of course David wasn't at all happy at the prospect of dying in agony at the hands of his mocking enemies. Of course he couldn't see the presence, or the goodness, of God in such circumstances. But what he could, and did, do was to cry out to the God whom he knew and trusted.
One of the most important lessons that we can learn from this Psalm, then, is from the honesty with which David wrote. He didn't for a moment try to hide from God how he was feeling about his plight. He was upfront too about how he thought that God wasn't hearing his prayers. David wrote about how he was at it day and night – and yet it seemed to be making no difference at all. The early verses of this Psalm alternate, though. David began with what we could say were grievances about God's apparent inaction. But in-between he reminded himself about who God is, and what He can do.
The very fact that David expressed himself to God at all at such a time tells us just how much he trusted in God! The supporting evidence may have been lacking – but only in the present. In the alternate verses of his Psalm David then reassured himself of his grounds for faith from other evidence. It wasn't 'just' that God was the God of Israel. And it wasn't 'just' that those who'd gone before David had trusted in God, and been saved either. It was also the evidence of his own past that David could, and did, rely on. Again, in verse 9, David reminded himself that he had trusted in God since he'd been a toddler, a baby even!
It was on those bases that David could then, in verse 11, plead with God not to stay away/be far from him. He really needed that help, because his situation was so dire. David didn't ever try to get away from that central fact. Even as he wrote about the good reasons there were to trust God, he kept going back to just how bad things were. In verse 6 he described himself as feeling like a worm, rather than a person. And then, in the next part of the Psalm, he went on to list exactly what he was facing. We didn't read that part – or the turning point that David finally reached, in verse 22.
Again we don't know what got him there, because it's not in the Psalm itself. But, for whatever reason, David knew there had been some kind of a breakthrough – and all was instantly transformed! The internal evidence suggests that nothing had actually changed, apart from David's attitude. But what a difference! From being that broken, desperate man, David became this great hero of faith! In faith he looked forward to the day when everybody would know just what God had done for him! He'd tell them all in public worship. He'd let the whole nation of Israel know about it! In fact, the news of what God had done would reach to the very ends of the earth! More than that, future generations would even get to know about it – and praise God for it! And, if you think that's fanciful, ask what we are praising God for today!
Well we've left that poor man hanging in the dark quite long enough now. Having asked for God's help, he wasn't at all happy to hear God tell him to let go of the branch! 'Is there anybody else out there?' was his next cry! The silence was broken only by God telling him again to let go. He still hung on for as long as he could, before he did let go. Before his life could flash before his eyes, he landed about three feet below, safe and sound, on solid ground.
It is only a story, of course. But it makes a crucial point, as Psalm 22 does – that God can be trusted. I, of all people, well know, though, that life is seldom quite that simple or easy. Psalm 22 is particularly helpful in that way: David faced very real danger, and there was no guarantee that his life would be spared. Yes he could, and did, cry out to God for help – and God obviously did rescue him, or this Psalm would never have been written! But I am sure that even if David had died, he'd have done so still believing in the goodness of God. And this is the faith into which we have welcomed Eden / Freya and Maggie today. It's about trusting and hoping in the God who is faithful to eternity.
As I look around the church this morning, I'm well aware of so many people with all kind of trouble to cry out to God about. I also know that I don't even know the half of it! But I am well aware, too, of my own on-going need to do that. What Psalm 22 does is to give us all the permission we'll ever need to cry out to God for His help. God welcomes us doing that, not least because it's a sign that somehow we do trust in Him. So today do be honest with God about your troubles – as David was. Don't hold back from telling God how it is, and how it feels. Yes, He already knows; but he longs to hear us say it anyway. And let it be – or become – part of a conversation with the God who is faithful at all times and in all circumstances, the One who knows you and loves you and saves you, as He did David. And so let's pray ...
posted by Parish Administrator at 5:31 pm
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home